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Tapper Smurf (Empath stories)
"May the luck of the Smurfish be with you!" Naomhán Críostóir "Tapper" Smurf (later Pastor Nevin) is a Smurf character who is part of the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series. History Tapper is born the son of Séamus and Molly Smurf, the proprietors of the Smurfrock Tavern, given the birth name of Naomhán (pronounced nee-vahn, meaning "little holy one") by his parents. In an interview with Reporter Smurf, Tapper revealed that he was mute when he was born. His father learned of the legend of the Blarney Stone in the Emerald Isle, which was able to cure any problems of whoever kissed it, granting the kisser the gift of gab. So Séamus took his wife and his son to the Emerald Isle so that Tapper could kiss the Blarney Stone, and surely enough, Tapper was able to speak his first word. Apart from that, Tapper knew very little about the Emerald Isle except that his mother had prevented Séamus from eating an enchanted stew made of shamrocks that she discovered would have turned her husband into a leprechaun -- a bit of information that would prove to be useful later on in Tapper's life during the time-traveling adventures of the Smurfs. His father told him about the patron goddess of the island Éire who watches over all those born of the Ailill clan and grants them her blessings. Tapper's name came about mostly as a nickname his father had given him as he was learning about brewing and bartending, always referring to him as "my little tapper". Most of his fellow Smurfs started referring to him as Tapper, as his birth name Naomhán was very difficult for them to say and Tapper didn't like having to always correct them on the pronunciation. Tapper doesn't consider the name to be offensive to him, but hardly anyone else refers to him as Naomhán except for his parents, God, and his later wife Siobhan when he shared his true name with her upon their first meeting. Around the time that he and his fellow Smurfs lost their parents to an unknown disease and Papa Smurf adopted them as his own children, Tapper had no faith in Papa Smurf ever being able to be an effective leader of the village and thus ran away from the village, only to find himself caught floating downstream in the River Smurf. He was reportedly rescued by an angel named Agnes, who then gave him a book by God which has enabled him to put his trust in a being with much greater power, and from there Tapper lives his life through faith. Tapper operated a small Smurf Village ministry called Living Water Ministries to reach out to his fellow Smurfs and preach the gopsel to them, with his first students being his friends Barber and Sweepy. Sometime after the discovery of the Smurfettes on Smurfette Island, Tapper fell in love with and married his Smurfette counterpart Siobhan, who gave him two daughters, Fiona and Meaghan. He moved to Smurfette Island and there had a chapel set up where he spent the remainder of his life as a preacher, hoping that his fellow Smurfs and Smurfettes would become Christians, adopting the title of Pastor Nevin. Tapper lived for a total of 781 years, after which he had passed away on Christmas and was buried along with his fellow Smurfs, bearing the very same Bible that he was first given in his hands as he was laid to rest. His daughter Fiona sang "Hallelujah" in honor of her father during the funeral. Personality Tapper is very friendly and enjoys conversing with his fellow Smurfs. He is usually of a temperament where it takes a lot to really get him angry. The only known occasion where he immediately got angry was when Brainy had to be put up in somebody else's house during the events of "Good Neighbor Smurf" and he was causing problems with the various Smurfs he was trying to bunk with. Tapper was glad to offer hospitality to Brainy, but gave him specific instructions not to touch any of his things, which Brainy ultimately paid no attention to, much to the displeasure of both Tapper and Brainy. Tapper regretted that he ever had to get angry with someone like Brainy, whom he generally likes despite his faults. He tends to be a rather spiritual Smurf, for one of the things he reads is a book called the Holy Bible, as revealed in the story "The Innocence Of A Smurf". Very few Smurfs in the village are interested in wanting to read or have discussions of the Bible with Tapper, while Hefty thinks that Tapper is too pushy with his religion. Nonetheless, Papa Smurf does allow him to practice his faith within reasonable limits, and Tapper tends to be very respectful when it comes to his discussions. In regards to his beliefs, Tapper strongly believes that the Almighty created all creatures to be united together as male and female, and disapproves of the idea that creatures are born to have a different sexual orientation, believing that it is simply the manifestation of the sin nature inherent in all created beings. His constant prayer is for his fellow Smurfs to remain pure in all things related to their existence, including their desire (and his own) for Smurfette. His choice to not use the Imaginarium in indulging in sexual fantasies has admittedly left him without any experience to satisfy his wife Siobhan on their honeymoon together, but fortunately for him Siobhan also admits to not being experienced herself. Sometime after his return from the Smurfs' time-traveling adventures in The Lost Year, Tapper was disgusted to hear from Empath that his Mirror Universe counterpart actually has a dating relationship with its Duncan McSmurf. Although he is quite secure in being a male Smurf, Tapper did take offense one time to being turned into a female Smurf by Jokey Smurf when he made a wish with Gargamel's magic egg to turn both Tapper and Duncan into Smurfettes. Also, because of his faith, Tapper exhibits no fear of death, and will even refuse to run away from Gargamel when he is pursuing after him and his fellow Smurfs. Gargamel considers Tapper to be rather foolish compared to his fellow Smurfs, having no belief in anything but the power of evil, but Tapper's faith usually prevails in situations where he is captured, and sometimes Gargamel falls prey to his own conscience gnawing at him. A few years before Empath returned home for good, Tapper brought to the village a wounded Azrael whose leg was caught in a bear trap. Though his fellow Smurfs spoke against the idea of them taking care of Azrael, Tapper's wisdom and faith prevailed, even as when Azrael had turned against Tapper, he was chased off by a silver-fanged growler that Gargamel owned as a pet which he had no control over. In another instance where a group of Smurfs were escaping an erupting volcano in a whirlysmurfer that Handy had designed, Tapper was able to talk down a shark from devouring his friend Brainy when they crashed into the ocean after their escape. However, Tapper's faith would be challenged during the period of The Lost Year when the Smurfs first arrived in the prehistoric past, which made Tapper wonder whether anything God said in His holy book was actually true when what he saw of the past didn't line up with his belief in how God created the heavens and the earth in six days. How this crisis of faith was ultimately resolved in this period is unknown, since during the Smurfs' time travels they were also witnesses of Jesus Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the dead three days later. Perhaps notable is that, despite being a brewer and a bartender, Tapper himself rarely consumes any alcoholic drinks, preferring to drink seltzer or any non-alcoholic drinks that he or his friend Vino makes for his tavern. He is also very adamant against smoking, considering it a very unhealthy habit, and forbids the use of cigarettes or pipes in his tavern, preferring to keep the air clean for all his patrons. Interestingly, Tapper still has an ornate smoking pipe that his father Séamus had used during his days as a bartender, though it is mostly used by his son nowadays for blowing soap bubbles. In one of the stories of that series, Tapper joins with Sweepy, Miner, and Barber as a member of the Barber Smurf Quartet, practicing for the Smurfstock Festival. Mostly his singing is limited to private praise and worship. Usually Tapper keeps company with Barber and Sweepy due to their limited roles in the Smurf Village, and sometimes works alongside his friend Duncan McSmurf, whom they share an affinity for their unique Smurf cultural backgrounds. Tapper's favorite musical instrument is the harp which he uses in private worship. Tapper's favorite holiday is the Day Of Clovers, which turns out to also be his birthday, a day that he celebrates his being of the Ailill clan. Due to having some knowledge of the Ailill language, Tapper's names for his fellow Smurfs are: *Empath Smurf - Ionbhá *Smurfette - Aoibheann *Sassette - Máirín *Brainy Smurf - Chliste *Hefty Smurf - Láidir *Handy Smurf - Seiftiúil *Vanity Smurf - Dathúil *Grouchy Smurf - Cantalach *Lazy Smurf - Leisciúil *Greedy Smurf - Ocras *Clumsy Smurf - Guaise *Harmony Smurf - Chéile *Jokey Smurf - Fuirseoir *Painter Smurf - Péintéir *Poet Smurf - File *Sloppy Smurf - Bréan *Scaredy Smurf - Scanraithe *Sickly Smurf - Breoite *Nosey Smurf - Aisteach *Chatty Smurf - Cainteach *Player Smurf - Buadhach *Narrator Smurf - Scéalaí *Crazy Smurf - Dúsachtach *Duncan McSmurf - Laoch *Polaris Psyche - Finnegan Relationships * Empath is considered one of his closest friends, as are also... * Smurfette, whom he loves but refuses to push her into considering him as a love interest, and currently declines as he now sees Smurfette is interested in Empath. Although he has experienced "the Smurfette dream", Tapper's thoughts of Smurfette remain pure, and he constantly prays for Smurfette and for his fellow Smurfs to maintain their purity for the day of her wedding. Interestingly, whenever Smurfette kisses Tapper on the cheek, his face gets a little rosy. When she was still an "un-Smurf", Tapper stood by her as her defense at the trial where she confessed that she was a creation of Gargamel to destroy the Smurfs. * Grouchy, whose feelings he respects, even to the point of refusing to hug him on Hug-A-Smurf Day. In fact, Tapper won't hug Grouchy at all unless he specifically asks for one. * Barber, the leader of the Barber Smurf Quartet, who eventually became a Christian and a pastor known as Brother Barber. * Sweepy, his fellow vocalist in the Barber Smurf Quartet, who also became a Christian. * Miner, another fellow vocalist in the Barber Smurf Quartet. In fact, Miner probably got his "Smurfin' Begorrah" expression just by being around Tapper's family so much! * Duncan McSmurf, who trains him in the use of a sword, though Tapper is less interested in fighting or hurting someone. He is considered both a close friend and a complementary equal. * Polaris Psyche, whom he affectionately calls Finnegan in Ailill. Like Empath, he never pushes Polaris into accepting the ways of the Smurf that he isn't comfortable with. He also disagrees with the Psychelian mandate of emotion suppression, believing that having emotions isn't a sin, but rather it is what one does with his or her emotions that makes it a sin or not. * Papa Smurf is his adopted father, for whom he constantly prays for wisdom and guidance as well as protection from the evil influences of dark magic. * Brainy is one of the few Smurfs he usually has great patience with, and one he genuinely likes despite his conceited know-it-all nature. * Jokey is another Smurf that Tapper has great patience with due to his constant playing of pranks, often equating him to a "Smurfish leprechaun". * Hefty thinks Tapper is a bit too pushy with his religion, but has no animosity with him. He also thinks that Tapper is foolhardy when it comes to facing dangers without running away from them such as Gargamel, and is usually astounded that he can survive such things without a scratch or without any help at all. He occasionally refers to Tapper as Gospel Smurf. * Tracker is the supplier of herbs for his teas and coffee brews, and has taught Tapper everything he knows about nature. * Marco is his sailing partner on board the S.S. Smurf II, who along with Empath and Duncan sing sea chanties together. * Poet and Narrator are two creative Smurfs that he enjoys conversing with as well as working with when it comes to theatrical productions based on Bible stories, such as Joseph And His Amazing Smurficolor Dreamcoat and Queen Esther. Poet eventually became a Christian and created his own translation of the Bible called the King Smurf Version. * Eros is considered Tapper's enemy, mostly because he uses his lust arrows to go after Tapper's fellow Smurfs, with Vanity and Century being his favorite targets due to his own perverse nature. * Michael is the only leprechaun that Tapper implicitly trusts, as to him most other leprechauns are seen to be very mischievous. * Father Doyle is a human priest that he befriended during his visits to a human village. Eventually he became the minister of Tapper and Siobhan's wedding. * Siobhan, who is his Smurfette Island Village counterpart, whom he fell in love with and married after she became a Christian. * Fiona and Meaghan are his two daughters through his wife Siobhan, whom he adores as his two beautiful treasures from the Almighty. * The Smurflings are for the most part his friends, which he had treated as his younger siblings. When Nat and Slouchy finally decided to marry his daughters Fiona and Meaghan, Tapper treated them as his sons-in-law. Role He is the friendly proprietor of Tapper's Tavern, where he serves fresh-brewed sarsaparilla ale to his patrons as well as other drinks such as acorn brew. He also acts as an informal counselor, offering advice to anyone who wants to hear it. In Sophia Smurfette's story "The Once And Smurfy King", Tapper served the role of being part of a secret "underground railroad" that smuggled Smurfs that wanted to join the rebellion out of the Smurf Village. Later in life, he becomes the pastor of the Smurfette Village Chapel, devoting his life entirely to serving the Almighty. Abilities * Master Brewer * Great Wisdom And Knowledge, mostly coming from his Bible reading, although he has been known to read other books like Brainy. * Great Communicator as both a bartender and a pastor in his later years. * Skilled Swordfighter, though not a master like Duncan. He mostly uses this skill for defending himself, and prefers using noncombative methods for dealing with situations. At heart he is a pacifist. * Empathetic Nature, a trait that he shares with Empath. * Bilingual in both the Smurf language and human language, as demonstrated in his talking to Sir Johan and Peewit in "The Magic Flute With Six Holes". He also has the supernatural ability to "speak in tongues", a language that was given to him by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and can understand the languages of both Hebrew and Greek. * Animal Communication, as demonstrated in "Under The Cat's Paw" and "Where The Wind Carries You". * Spiritual Healing, used only on occasion. * Prophetic Vision * Spiritual Sensitivity, a skill that only increased in time as Tapper became more devoted to his religion and less devoted to his original trained skill. * Fearlessness * Spiritual Protection in the form of a force field that protects him from all forms of spiritual attacks, such as Eros' lust arrows. With prayer he can temporarily grant the same protection to his friends and fellow Smurfs. * Anti-Magic through the power of God, which can cancel out magic spells cast against himself or his fellow Smurfs. * Skilled Dancer, particularly the Smurfish Jig. * Skilled Vocalist, performing as part of the Barber Smurf Quartet and also during private worship. Clothing And Appearance He is mostly identified by a shamrock that he wears on his modified Smurf hat (made to resemble a soda jerk hat) and by his green tie and green-striped vest, which was complemented by a white shirt with green trim on the cuffs around the time of Empath's wedding. In summer, his casual beach gear would consist of a green tank top with a dark green pair of swim trunks. In winter, he wears a dark green sweater and a light green undershirt with his tie. In rare occasions where he would have to engage in battle, Tapper wears the Ailill Garment that protects him from physical harm. He is one of the few Smurfs in the village who is hardly seen without a shirt or vest, as Tapper himself prefers to dress in the style of a gentleman whether he is working or doing leisurely activities. Also, like Empath, Tapper is a bit self-conscious about his physical appearance. As an honorary member of the McSmurf clan, Tapper occasionally wears a kilt, such as during his wedding to Siobhan Smurfette and other similar weddings. However, in an alternate timeline where Papa Smurf married Smurfette, Tapper refused to wear the kilt at the wedding ceremony as he and his fellow Smurfs found the idea of those two Smurfs being married too distasteful and thus not worthy of fully honoring. At the wedding of Duncan McSmurf with his bride Brenda McSmurfette, Tapper wore a chain mail sleeveless shirt along with a kilt and cape. Like his father Séamus, Tapper speaks with an Irish accent and in his later years wears a ginger-colored beard. He also began to wear a black priest's robe when he became a pastor, although during services he wears a white robe with a colored shawl depending on the particular season he is honoring. His physique as a Smurf is within the normal range of his species, although he likes to keep himself active to maintain his weight level. Alternate Histories There were at least three alternate histories of Tapper that were seen by Traveler. "Papa Smurf & Mama Smurfette" In one history, he sided with Empath Smurf in the rebellion against Papa Smurf when he married Smurfette and produced a daughter through her. Although he initially felt it was not his place to tell Smurfette who she should give her heart to as her one true love, Tapper eventually became so upset with her decision in that timeline that he broke a picture of Smurfette that he had hanging in his tavern. "Hefty, The Luckiest Smurf" In another history, when Empath was returned to Psychelia after a year of living with the Smurfs following his 150th birthday, Hefty fell in love with and married Smurfette, having a daughter with her. Tapper simply gave the happy couple his blessings before they went on their honeymoon together. "Empath Goes Wild" In a third alternate history, Tapper meets the Smurf who would have been Empath, who is instead called Wild for he had been raised in the forest for about 150 years instead of in Psychelia, since this version of Empath was born without any of his telepathic or telekinetic abilities. During what would otherwise be known as The Lost Year, Tapper and all the other Smurfs were trapped in a never-ending journey through time, in which his fate remains unknown. Possible Voice Actor His speaking voice would be Karl Hanover, who is the voice of Atlas from Bioshock. Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite - Burial At Sea: Episode 2. His singing voice would be that of Christian worship leader Robin Mark or a similar sounding voice. Notes *The character is named for the Bally Midway arcade game of the same name, though his dress style is modeled after the soda jerk from Root Beer Tapper. (The character from the video game currently appears in the Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph.) The original intended name for the character is Brewer Smurf, when he was created around the late 1990s. *Tapper was created to be the exclusive Irish-speaking Smurf for the EMPATH story series, since his creator Vic George did not find anything about Miner Smurf in the cartoon show that pointed to him being Irish other than his accent, thus his accent was changed to Scottish. *His common expression, "Great Smurfiny Crickets", is based on the character Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio. In foreign translations, his common expression would be "great green hills". His least common expression is "blessed smurfs of Éire". *His usual morning greeting, "Smurf o' the morning to you", is based on a New Zealand greeting commonly accredited to the Irish that is hardly ever used at all by the Irish. * Tapper takes the place of the adult Nat Smurf in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf adaptation of the cartoon show episode "All Creatures Great And Smurf" as the Smurf who rescues and takes care of Azrael. * Tapper's worship songs include Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes", "Doxology", and Robin Mark's "Be Unto Your Name". * Tapper's first name Naomhán is the Irish equivalent of Nevin, a Latin name that means "holy" or "sacred", while his middle name Críostóir is the Irish equivalent of Christopher, meaning "follower of Christ" or "Christ bearer". * Tapper's ability to communicate directly with animals is based on the legend of St. Francis of Assisi from Catholicism. * Tapper's personality is loosely based on that of Father Francis Mulcahy (played by William Christopher, the voice of Angel Smurf from the Smurfs cartoon show) from the M*A*S*H TV series and of Dr. Tsion Ben-Judah (a Messianic Jew) from the LEFT BEHIND book series. * Tapper represents the "Sensitive Smurf" portion of the Sensitive Guy And Manly Man trope at TV Tropes, with his friend Duncan McSmurf being the "Manly Smurf" of the duo. * According to author and creator Vic George, Tapper originally started off as a stereotypical Irish bartender-type character with a bit of folksy wisdom and an openness to spirituality, with his Christian elements evolving over time to the present day, not being tied to a specific denomination but incorporating elements of various sects of Christianity, including Pentecostalism. * Tapper's line about binding marriages in "threefold cords that cannot quickly be broken" is a reference to Ecclesiastes 4:12: "Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." See Also * Reporter's Inside Stories: An Interview With Tapper Category:Empath the Luckiest Smurf characters Category:Smurfs Category:Males Category:Food service workers Category:Irish accents Category:Spiritual characters Category:Empath's generation Smurfs Category:Smurf Village residents Category:Ailill clan Smurfs Category:Religious figures Category:VicGeorge2K9's articles Category:Heterosexual characters Category:Christians Category:Original character creations Category:Nature lovers Category:Priests Category:Bartenders Category:Bookworms Category:Kilt wearers Category:Fathers Category:Tapper's family members Category:Cross-gender characters Category:Celibate characters